Preceramic procurement patterns at Krum Bay, Virgin Islands
Lundberg, Emily Ruth
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/22952
Description
Title
Preceramic procurement patterns at Krum Bay, Virgin Islands
Author(s)
Lundberg, Emily Ruth
Issue Date
1989
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Lathrap, Donald W.
Department of Study
Anthropology
Discipline
Anthropology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Anthropology, Archaeology
Language
eng
Abstract
Resource procurement is examined in this study, based on excavation and analysis of a small portion of the Krum Bay site on St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. Located in a cluster of three related sites with a long history of investigation, the deposit is a small, preceramic period stratified shell midden that is composed predominantly of pearl oysters. Radiocarbon results indicate its utilization between approximately 2900 and 1700 years ago, overlapping somewhat with ceramic-bearing sites of the area. It represents an adaptation that evidently enjoyed long-term success in an environment having patchy abundance within the marine habitat. Appended studies on invertebrate remains, on vertebrate remains (by E. J. Reitz), on macrobotanical remains (by D. M. Pearsall), and on microbotanical remains (by F. M. Wiseman) provide detailed information about recovered materials. The faunal evidence indicates reliance on only a few taxa, although a wide range of taxa is represented in minimal amounts. Plant remains show that forest trees provided foods as well as other materials. Direct evidence of plant cultivation was not found, although the pollen record does suggest increasing forest disturbance near the site. Artifacts primarily include expediently flaked igneous stone tools, pebble tools, celtlike tools, and small ornaments. Similar materials are found in other sites of the Virgin island group and eastern Puerto Rico. These assemblages are classified in three complexes of a single subseries. The complexes do not have close resemblances to mainland complexes, suggesting development within the Antillean environment. Area-wide data are integrated to formulate a model of successional site reoccupations by small communities using multiple settlements for specific activities in subsistence resource procurement.
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